1. Field
The invention relates to computer networks. In particular, the invention relates to managing and documenting network server configuration.
2. Description of Related Art
Explosive growth of the Internet, and in particular e-commerce, has resulted in a dramatic increase in the rate at which companies and individuals are creating network resources such as World-Wide-Web sites, email accounts, and the like. Most companies do not have a direct connection to the Internet and thus contract with a web hosting company, or internet service provider (ISP), to provide access to the Internet and to host the resources they wish to make available to other Internet users.
Typically a web hosting service provider may provide a wide range of e-commerce, application hosting, and connectivity services. For example, a company or individual may contract with a web hosting company to provide a specified amount of memory on a server for the company to establish and maintain its web site. In addition, the company may contract for other types of services, such as, for example, email services, secure socket layer (SSL), file transfer protocol (FTP) service, database services, and real media service allowing streaming audio and video from the company's web site. To provide these services, the ISP operates a plurality of servers. In most cases, a single server has enough memory capacity and processing power to serve as a host system for the needs of several customers. In some cases, however, a single customer may have their own dedicated server, which is effectively leased or rented from the ISP, and which hosts services that are provided only to that customer.
After a company or individual has established its initial set of services with a web hosting service provider, they may wish to change the services it has contracted for. In addition, customers that maintain one or more dedicated servers may wish to have their server hardware modified or upgraded. For example, if the company had not originally contracted for real media service, it may wish to add this feature to its web site. Typically, when a company wants to change the services it has contracted for, a request for the desired change would be communicated to the web hosting service provider. At the web hosting service provider, a system administrator would determine if the new services are available to the requesting company and which network servers of the web host's system should be configured to accommodate the requested configuration. The system administrator would then access the appropriate server and change the server configuration to conform to the requested change. In some instances, accessing the appropriate server may require the system administrator to travel to a remote site where a server is located. At some facilities, this process was partially automated by programming the servers with scripts that performed some tasks of the configuration process. However, administrator access to the server was still required to implement the configuration changes.
In addition, web hosting service providers must maintain accurate records of the server hardware and software configurations. The records of the server configurations allow the web hosting, service provider to monitor equipment utilization to help determine, for example, when increased customer demand would justify upgrading existing equipment, or bringing additional equipment on line. Accurate records are also required to ensure proper billing of companies contracting for the services provided. To both maintain server configurations according to customer desires, and to simultaneously track server configurations as they are altered over time, a system administrator would both update server configurations and also update a database containing information regarding server configurations. Requiring the system administrator to update a database is prone to errors in entry, as well as inadvertently failing to record a configuration change that was made. In addition, ISP customers have not had easy access to information concerning server configuration so as to ensure it is currently meeting their requirements.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for methods and apparatus to improve the speed and efficiency of matching server configurations with customer desires. In addition, there is a need in the art for methods and apparatus to improve the recording and monitoring of network equipment configuration.